1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric actuator, piezoelectric motor, robot, and electronic component conveyance apparatus.
2. Related Art
In related art, piezoelectric actuators including piezoelectric elements are known (e.g. see Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2011-155761)). The piezoelectric actuator described in Patent Document 1 includes a piezoelectric actuator main body and a contact part provided in an end portion of the piezoelectric actuator main body, and the contact part is adapted to be in contact with a non-driver. Further, the contact part has fixed outer shape and cross-sectional area in the axis direction thereof so that the shape and area of the contact surface with the non-driver may not change even when the contact part wears down.
However, in the piezoelectric actuator described in Patent Document 1, the cross-sectional area of the base portion of the contact part is larger than the cross-sectional area of the tip end portion and rigidity of the base portion is higher than rigidity of the tip end portion. Accordingly, efficient transmission of the vibration of the piezoelectric actuator to the contact part is harder and the amplitude of the contact part is smaller. In other words, it may be impossible to bring the vibration trajectory of the tip end portion of the contact part closer to an ideal state.